1. Technical Field
The present disclosure is directed generally to a cage nut assembly and, more particularly, to a cage nut assembly for use with rack units.
2. Background Art
Cage nut assemblies are used in a variety of settings to provide a means for holding a nut in place while securing a screw. The object of the cage nut assembly is to ensure that the nut remains secure to the object it is being placed on while the screw is being attached; thereby ensuring that the screw and nut are securely fastened. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,096,350, 5,624,319, 6,146,071, 6,758,645 and 7,156,599 disclose various prior art cage nut assemblies. One area in which it is vital to ensure screws and nuts are securely fastened is in computer rack systems.
Computer rack systems are designed to store multiple components and generally have removable rack mountable equipment that must be screwed into the computer rack and can be attached at different places to maximize the usage of space within the computer rack. To ensure that there is adequate spacing for different rack mountable equipment, the racks typically have a plurality of holes for the screws necessary to install rack mountable equipment. The industry has adopted as a standard the “rack unit,” a distance of 1.75 inches. A rack unit by convention has three screw holes within each rack unit, equidistant apart.
The versatility of rack mountable equipment needs can lead to lengthy installation times for computer racks. This installation time is influenced by the number of rack mountable equipment being installed and the varying size of the objects being installed on the rack. The adoption of rack units as a standard distance between rack mountable equipment units has reduced installation times by allowing for a variety of well defined spacing between rack mountable equipment.
Despite this adoption, a need remains to further reduce the installation time for computer rack systems and to facilitate the ease/alignment associated therewith. These and other needs are satisfied by the cage nut disclosed herein.